The Job-Quality Impact Explorer (J-QIE)

The Job-Quality Impact Explorer (J-QIE) is a tool to help employers explore the impact of improving job conditions for their front-line workers. The current version is a proof-of-concept, developed with the support and funding from Innovation Resource Center for Human Resources (IRC4HR).

The goal of J-QIE is to show how certain choices about working conditions for front-line workers can have a positive impact on both the satisfaction of the workers and on the business outcomes of the company.

J-QIE is based on a methodology known as Agent-Based Simulation (ABS), a tool that combines behavioral science and computer simulations to study complex adaptive systems. ABS has been used to study and manage a wide range of complex problems in business and in society. Additional details and references can be found in the INFO section of the J-QIE demo.

How does it work?

This proof-of-concept version of J-QIE simulates a typical retail fashion environment, capturing the moment-by-moment behaviors of typical sales staff. This includes getting to work (possibly being absent or arriving late), and doing a series of activities that includes interacting with customers. The employees’ activities are influenced by their level of satisfaction, which, in turn, is influenced by the job quality.

Please watch the video below for a brief demo of J-QIE.

 

Demo video of the J-QIE simulation tool

 

Try it yourself!

This proof-of-concept version of J-QIE is available for anyone who wants to try it out. There are two ways you can use J-QIE on your own:

  1. Download the NetLogo modeling environment from Northwestern University. It is free and works on most types of computers. Then download the latest version of J-QIE-web.nlogo, save it on your computer, and run it with NetLogo.

  2. Use the web-based version of J-QIE from our website. Note: the web version is very slow to initialize the first time after loading the page (it can take 1-2 minutes). And the first time you press RUN it will take another 30 sec or so. However, after that, you can re-initialize and run with no additional delays. Also note that the web version works best with Chrome. The appearance is changed when viewed with other browsers.

Questions or comments?

If you work in the retail space or other industries that hire a lot of front-line workers, and are interested in exploring the use of J-QIE in a real-world setting, please reach out.